Sunday, May 10, 2009

Buena Vista...Spring Runoff Commences!

Buena Vista Road Trip

Spent this whole weekend in my favorite place in Colorado when the spring runoff has begun! Heather was racing in the Gravity Play Buena Vista race (http://www.gravityplay.com/) where she pulled off a solid 3 place overall while I paddled water safety on behalf of KEEN and Clif Bar for the race thru the class 2-3 rapids south of town. I spent several hours chumming it up with racers as they came thru the rapids and enjoyed the enthusiasm they shared for this great section of the Arkansas River. A few racers were less enthusiastic about the water temperatures and their kayak selection as the section is rowdier than most adventure races offer but all were safe and proud of their accomplishment.

Heather did a great job keeping her kayak upright and I'm super proud of her just learning to kayak. My new Immersion Research long sleeve Thermoskin layers arrived just in time for the spring runoff...perfect combination of warmth and performance...armpits were totally uninhibited and the perfect choice for the cold mountain melt seen above.

I spent the rest weekend scouting the upper half of the FIBARK course with local wildwater paddler Mike Harvey, play park designer extraordinaire. His wildwater paddling is looking solid and we snuck every sneak he knows on the upper course. We'll spend the next 4 weeks dissecting the FIBARK course at rising water levels until she's given us all of her secrets.